Welcome to Carlos Pinto de Oliveira
Carlos Appointed Director of Visit Portugal Ireland.
Carlos Pinto de Oliveira brings extensive experience in the travel industry after almost a decade working with Visit Portugal, followed by eight years working with TAP Air Portugal, the Portuguese flag carrier. During his time as Key Account Manager in TAP, Carlos managed a portfolio of accounts to identify opportunities and grow business to achieve revenue targets.
An expert in the travel industry, Carlos has a strong relationship the Irish travel trade, having worked closely with Irish trade partners and attended trade events in his previous role on behalf of TAP Portugal.
Aer Lingus are back in San Francisco
This was fantastic news for Aer Lingus as the reintroduction of San Francisco equated to 14 direct services to the USA from Dublin and Shannon in 2022!!!!
San Francisco direct with Aer Lingus returns on Friday 25th of February!
Aer Lingus provides 14 direct routes between North America and Ireland, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando, Washington, Seattle, and Philadelphia. The airline will be the only carrier offering direct flights between Ireland and West Coast USA, with daily flights to San Francisco recommencing on 25 February, daily flights to Los Angeles starting on 12 May and Seattle, returning 5 times per week on 26 May. Flights to the USA from Shannon will start from 10th March, with 14 flights a week to New York and Boston.
Air Canada Sales Blitz concludes
The Air Canada sales blitz concluded in late October after 3 weeks of visiting agents throughout the length and breadth of Ireland.
Blaithin, Bernadette and their team members from the UK would like to thank all Irish agents for their fantastic welcome as they travelled the length and breadth of the Green Isle. The Blitz coincided with Canadian Thanksgiving on the 10th of October as the Air Canada sales team continued their visits up and down the length and breadth of the country bringing greetings and the highly sought-after Air Canada chocolate lollies.
Enda leaves Emirates
Enda leaves Emirates
Breaking news in September 2022 as we learned of the imminent departure of Enda Corneille as Country Manager for Emirates after eight very successful and at times challenging years.
Enda spoke to Don Shearer (Travelbiz) following his announcement and made it very clear that he is taking time out when he departs his role in October to take stock and decide upon the next chapter in his career. It was not an easy decision for Enda to make but feels he is leaving at the right time having managed the brand and business in Ireland through the toughest two years in our Industry and leaves now with a full restoration of the double daily service with Emirates to Dubai from Dublin.
Holiday World Shows Rescheduled till 2023
As we continued to battle the pandemic fallout our much-loved Holiday World shows were once again deferred to 2023. Now we are only weeks away to getting back on track in Shannon, Belfast and Dublin.
Business Exhibitions has announced that the annual Holiday Shows will not proceed in 2022.
The Holiday World Shows, which were set to take place in February and March in Dublin, Belfast and Shannon have been rescheduled to January 2023.
Travelbiz Acquires Travelfinders
On the 12th of May 2022 we announced the acquisition of Travelfinders.
Don Shearer is delighted to announce that Travelbiz Ltd has acquired Travelfinders, Ireland’s leading consumer focused portal with the largest active database of Irish holidaymakers and subscribers. Travelfinders was established in 1993 by Peter O’Hanlon promoting and supporting the wholesale and retail travel trade sector at home and abroad, along with local and international hotel partners.
Don Shearer and Peter O’Hanlon have worked together in the travel industry supporting each other in various roles for over 30 years. This meeting of minds and acquisition is a result of a very strong business and personal relationship that has grown out of a mutual respect for what they have both achieved, establishing the largest and most followed trade and consumer focused brands in Ireland.
Hello Prima
Ingrid Hunt (Senior Marketing Manager UK & Ireland NCL) and Aaron Fletcher (Business Manager Ireland) hosted key trade partners in August of 2022 as Norwegian Cruise Line welcomed first of six ships in ground-breaking Prima Class, the brands newest class of ships in nearly a decade last week.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), the innovator in global cruise travel with a 55-year history of breaking boundaries, took delivery of its newest ship, Norwegian Prima, in Marghera, Venice at the renowned Fincantieri shipyard.
Making a Difference
The theme for this year’s Worldchoice conference in November 2022 was ‘making a difference’ and that was evident from the moment delegates arrived on Friday evening to the conclusion on Sunday morning. The level of interaction, energy and pure delight to be back in ‘full on’ conference mode was so good and testament to the amazing job that Carol Anne O’Neill (Commercial Manger Worldchoice) has done bringing Worldchoice members, trade and media partners back together to do what we do best.
A number of delegates and trade partners took the opportunity to arrive on Friday evening and enjoy the very comfortable surroundings of the Fairways Hotel which is part of the INUA Collection of hotels in Ireland. The hotel provided the perfect facilitates and location for this year’s conference with a great presentation theatre, reception and break out area along with one of the finest dining and entertainment spaces available in the sector.
Travelbiz review of 2022
Another year over and an new one just about to begin and what a year it has been. Our very first story of the year was titled ‘Bounce Back In 2022’ and boy we did just that.
January 08th 2022.
Well, here we are again, a new year with new challenges, but the focus will change to managing demand and converting all of those enquiries! Travelbiz will continue to deliver in 2022 with a lot of new and very exciting developments along the way, as we all check in and get ready to board our ‘bounce back’ journey to what we all do best! Travel sentiment is high as all we hear from our colleagues’ friends and family, is we are travelling again in 2022 no matter what.
Team Etihad thanks the trade for 15 years of great support
July of 2022 Etihad celebrated 15 years of trade partner support in Ireland.
“You have choices in a very competitive market, and we thank you for your amazing support over the past 15 years in Ireland”, said Martin Drew (Senior Vice President Cargo & Sales Etihad) on behalf of team Etihad in Ireland in the Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge last week as we celebrated with trade partners 15 years of Etihad connecting Ireland with the UAE and beyond.
Travelbiz took the opportunity to catch up with Martin earlier in the day, proceedings to get an insight into Etihad’s plans for the future and achievements over the past 15 years operating from Dublin.